Administrator’s Weekly Governance Report

February 7 – February 13, 2004

 HIGHLIGHTS

 Recent CPA polls indicate passive Iraqi public support for the transfer of sovereignty and the transitional administrative law. 

CPA sponsored the production of the documentary film “Mass Graves”, which documents and underscores the human atrocities committed by Saddam Hussein’s regime.
 

1.                Support Transition to Iraqi Sovereignty

• According to CPA-sponsored surveys across Iraq, a majority of Iraqis support steps that emphasize quick transfer.
   
• Results from polls conducted in Baghdad, Basrah, Mosul, Ramadi, Samara, and Karbala indicate that two-thirds of Iraqis agree that caucuses would be acceptable, although elections are still the most popular choice.  They also indicate that Iraqis support individual rights and democracy in a religious context, but without favoring clerics in government.
   
• CPA began an assessment of the Iraqi Public Distribution System database to verify its potential as a basis for a voter list for elections in late 2004/early 2005.  This assessment will include data testing at the local and national levels. The data available includes 15 of the 18 governorates, with the 3 northern governorates still expected.
   

• The Karbala Provincial Council plans to complete refreshment by February 15.  Refreshment processes in all governorates should be complete by early March.  Ten governorates in Iraq have Provincial Councils that have completed the refreshment process to become more representative of their populations, in terms of gender and ethnicity, than when originally chosen.  The status of each Provincial Council is contained in the following table (the three Northern governorates are not included):
   

II.                Develop Civic Participation in Governance

• The CPA Civic Education Campaign continued the “Training the Trainers” program in Al Hillah, focusing on the fundamentals of democracy.  The program also instructs participants how to maximize use of the democracy toolkit that has been developed to assist those implementing democracy dialogue.  After training is complete, the trainers will plan and conduct seminars, workshops, and public meetings to discuss democracy in Iraq.
   
• The CPA facilitated seven selection procedures in Al Anbar Governorate Council through the Local Governance Program (LGP). Approximately 250 individuals participated in each selection process, which was filmed by the media. 
   

• The Baghdad Women’s Center Initiative will establish a center in Baghdad’s Al Mansour district to increase the participation of women in the social, economic, and political life of the community. A USAID grant will assist the center by providing office equipment and supplies.  CPA is rehabilitating and equipping women’s centers throughout Iraq and providing women with training in subjects ranging from information technology to political participation. To date, CPA has provided this assistance to Women’s Centers in nine major cities -- Baghdad, Sulaymaniyah, Mosul, Al Kut, Diwaniyah, Hillah, Karbala, Basrah, Najaf, and are working on centers in Agrah, Halabja, Tawela, and Biara. Nine additional Women’s Centers are planned for Baghdad. The goal is to have at least one modern, fully equipped, and staffed Women’s Center in each of Iraq’s 18 Governorates, and additional ones where need is greatest.
   

• CPA will distribute 500,000 pamphlets on the Transitional Administrative Law throughout the country in order to educate the Iraqi people.  Coalition regional channels, the Iraq Reconstruction and Development Council, civil society organizations, ministries, and the local press will participate in the distribution.

·        CPA supported the establishment of the Iraq Foundation for Development and Democracy (IFDD), a think tank fostering political dialogue in Iraq through the sponsorship of meetings to discuss the transition to democracy. 

·        Iraqi non-governmental organizations (NGO’s) that participated in this month’s World Movement for Democracy Conference in South Africa, established the Iraqi Civic Society Empowerment Network (ICEN).  ICEN will work to build a network of NGOs that will promote civil society and democratic values in Iraq. 

·        More than 650 women, mostly conservative shi’ites, attended the 1000 Women’s Conference at Baghdad University on February 12.  Resolutions from the conference include 1) that women participate in the drafting of the constitution; 2) that women have a minimum representation of 20 percent in the different ministries; and 3) that a Ministry for Women be created.  Once drafted, these resolutions will go formally to the IGC.

·        Parween Shawqat Kawther, a school teacher and member of the Salah Ad Din Provincial Council, is the first Iraqi to arrive in the U.S. as a participant in the U. S. State Department’s International Visitor Program. Parween will join others from the Near East and North Africa in a program for teaching English as a second language that will explore pedagogical methods, curricula, assessment techniques, and educational resource management.

·        CPA attended the opening of the new home of the Free Women Association (FWA) in Al Muthanna.  FWA is one of the first official Iraqi women’s organizations to be recognized after the collapse of the Ba’ath regime. 
 

III.             Develop Framework and Capacity for Elections

• Technical and resource planning continues for the implementation of caucuses or other means, such as direct elections, to establish a Transitional National Assembly (TNA) by July 1.  CPA and the Coalition Joint Task Force (CJTF-7) discussed contingency timelines to ensure appropriate allocation of logistical capacities, human resources and security. 
   

IV.              Support Development of Sustainable Political Parties/Associations

• The International Republican Institute (IRI) is producing a database of political parties in Iraq.  It will include party characteristics, such as regions in which the parties operate, existence of women in leadership positions, and estimated membership. IRI and the National Democratic Institute (NDI) will use the database to initiate political party training and other work with the parties.

V.                 Promote Respect for Human Rights

• CPA sponsored the production of the documentary film “Mass Graves”, which underscores the enormity of the crimes committed against the Iraqi people for the past two decades. The film also emphasizes the effect that atrocities by Saddam’s regime had on every individual living in Iraq – whether they were Arab, Kurdish, Turkmen, or Christian.  The release date for “Mass Graves”, which will be aired on the al Iraqiyah television network, is yet to be determined.
   

• Work continues on the Secure Evidence Storage Facility for documentation storage and analysis of past atrocities.  A second building is needed to serve as the investigations base.  A completed training for stakeholder meeting is scheduled for February 15, to develop recommendations for future work on documentation.
   
• The Ministry of Human Rights officially opens its new building on February 14 before an invited audience.
   
• CPA monitored the exhumation work carried out by a Kuwaiti team on grave sites near Karbala.  This work is part of the Tripartite Agreement

VI.              Promote Durable Solutions for Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs)

• The Iraq Property Claims Commission (IPCC) is scheduled to start opening offices and accepting claims by the end of this month.  The Baghdad offices are scheduled to open February 23, followed by offices in Erbil, Sulamaniyah, Kirkuk and Mosul.  A State Department legal expert is assisting the IGC legal committee in drafting IPCC guidelines that will clarify aspects of the law.